A New Family
by Zorback32
Summary: While waiting for his daughter to come into this world, Naruto Uzumaki reminisces with Sakura Uchiha about past struggles along with why they never would have worked as a couple.


**A New Family**

In his twenty-two years of life so far, there were only a handful of times where Naruto Uzumaki had run at speeds that pushed the current capabilities of his body beyond its limits. The first of those incidents had been when Sasuke deserted Konoha, and the most recent (until now) was the first time his wife went into labor. In most of the previous incidents, desperation had driven Naruto; now, it was mostly a sense of anxiety and longing.

He rushed through the door of the hospital looking around frantically for Sakura or Tsunade. When he couldn't find them, he pushed his way to the front desk and looked at the nurse, demanding to know where his wife was at. The nurse, seeing how frantic Naruto looked pointed down the hallway before Naruto finished speaking. Naruto gave her a nod of thanks before rushing in the direction she pointed.

But he only made it about halfway to the maternity ward before he felt a tight grip at the back of his collar holding him back.

"Oh no you don't," an all too familiar voice growled from behind Naruto. He yanked himself free and spun around to find Sakura Uchiha standing behind him.

"You couldn't have let me know sooner?!" Naruto yelled at her.

"You need to calm down, Naruto. Hinata is fine. But she might not have been if she hadn't taught Boruto how to use a cell phone. He called me as soon as Hinata's labor started. Speaking of which…" Sakura's voice trailed off and she directed a harsh glare at Naruto. "If you really wanted to know the moment your wife went into labor, why don't you have your own cell phone yet?"

"Give me a break, Sakura! You know Kakashi-sensei sent me on a mission to Suna! How was I supposed to know Hinata would go into labor before the mission was completed?"

Sakura groaned and rubbed her temples. "You're still a giant blockhead…"

"Whatever. Can I see Hinata now?" Naruto asked, growing somewhat annoyed with his teammate.

"No, you idiot!" Sakura yelled. "Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san are in Hinata's room right now! They'll throw you back to Suna if you try to go in there!"

Naruto pouted. "You don't have to keep calling me an idiot, y'know," he whined. "Besides, you know I should be back there with Hinata."

"You won't do Hinata any good in your current state of mind." Sakura sighed deeply and turned around. "Let's take a walk, Naruto. I kinda wanted to talk to you about some things."

"But—?" Naruto tried to protest, but was quickly cut off by Sakura.

"Hinata will be fine. The best medics in the world are in there with her. They helped with Boruto's birth too, remember? Just have some faith in them," Sakura switched to a gentler tone, seeing how worried Naruto was about Hinata and trying to reassure him. Naruto hesitantly complied and started walking behind her, which elicited a giggle from the pink-haired medic-nin as she led him back towards the main lobby.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked.

"You've always been protective of Hinata, haven't you?" Sakura asked in reply, leaving Naruto confused.

"What are you getting at?"

Sakura didn't answer right away. She slipped three 10-ryō notes into a vending machine and punched in the code for an iced coffee. After drinking half the can, she asked, "Do you still remember the Chūnin Exams? I don't think anyone who was watching could forget the moment when you dipped your hand in Hinata's blood and vowed to take down Neji after he nearly killed her."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, it was a lot simpler than you make it out to be."

"Oh?"

Naruto put several 5-ryō coins into the machine for his own iced coffee as he replied, "The way Neji treated Hinata back then reminded me a lot of my own situation. No one back then ever thought I'd amount to anything, and when I saw Hinata's own family treating her the same way the rest of the village treated me…it really pissed me off, y'know?" He clenched his can of iced coffee in his hand as he finished.

Sakura smirked at his explanation. "Well well. It turns out that even back then, you were quite the romantic."

"Real funny, Sakura-chan."

Sakura quickly finished off her iced coffee and tossed the empty can in the recycle bin next to the vending machine. She leaned forward slightly and put her right hand under her chin. "But are you sure that's all it was?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. Even back then, when Hinata was being put down or hurt, I got angrier than I usually did. And then there was the day Nagato destroyed our village, and the moment when I thought he killed Hinata in front of me. At the time, it was the worst feeling of my entire life. I was so consumed with rage and grief that my heart instantly connected with Kurama's will. I've never felt like that before, or since then…"

"Except for when you thought Hinata left you for Toneri," Sakura commented.

Naruto shook his head. "Nagato taught me the true meaning of hatred when he attacked Konoha," he continued explaining. "I couldn't forgive him for a long time for what he did. If my dad hadn't shown up in my mindscape when I was about to give my body and soul to Kurama, none of us would still be here. But with Toneri, it was even _worse._ During our mission to save Hanabi, I'd started remembering things about Hinata because of the genjutsu trap in that passageway. All of those memories made me realize that Hinata had been supporting me from the very start, even before Iruka-sensei. I didn't know how to express how happy I felt being around her. So when I accidentally told Hinata that I love her and she rejected me…

"You saw how pathetic I was after I came out of that coma, Sakura-chan. Everything I'd been through, it was all for nothing. That's what I was thinking then. What was the point of becoming Hokage, or even living for that matter, if I couldn't be with my most precious person? If you hadn't talked some sense into me after I woke up, I would've let the world end because I believed Hinata had stopped loving me," he concluded with a sigh at the memory. "And what's worse is that at the time, I felt I deserved it. I made Hinata wait so long and…" Naruto crushed his iced coffee can and threw it in the recycle bin. "I'd rather not even think about it."

Sakura sighed as well and gave Naruto a sad smile. "Do you still remember when you used to say you loved me?"

Naruto squirmed uncomfortably at Sakura's question. "I was really hard on you back then, huh? Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," Sakura waved off his apology. "But I was just thinking about how things wouldn't have worked out between us."

"Are you talking about when you tried to talk me out of saving Sasuke from his hate?" Naruto asked, recalling that day and how it had nearly destroyed his and Sakura's friendship.

Sakura nodded and grimaced at the memory. "Sometimes I still beat myself up over that. But even if I'd been honest with you that day…" Her voice trailed off for a few seconds. She shook her head to push those bad memories back and continued, "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Besides, you said it yourself, Naruto. What's the point of making your dreams come true if you can't share them with the one person who believed in you from the start? And that person isn't me."

Naruto paused for a few moments, then gave Sakura his trademark idiot grin. However, before he could say anything, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and turned to see Shizune heading his way.

"Shizune-nee-chan!" Naruto almost yelled as he ran towards her. "How's Hinata?"

"Calm down, Naruto-kun," Shizune told him. "Hinata-san is resting now. There were no complications with the delivery. You can go see her now, but you can't be excited around her."

Some of the tension Naruto had felt since receiving the news that his wife had gone into labor finally started to leave his body. Relief was visible on his face as he glanced back at Sakura, who gave him the go-ahead with a firm nod. He was already halfway down the hallway before she could say anything else.

"It sounds like you and Naruto-kun had an interesting conversation," Shizune observed.

Sakura sighed and then chuckled a few seconds later. "Sometimes I really envy those two."

x-x

Naruto only needed a few seconds to get back to the maternity ward. In his need to see his wife, he had ignored the protests of the nurses he passed by as he sprinted towards his destination. However, he abruptly stopped when he realized that no one had actually told him which room Hinata was in. The problem quickly corrected itself by way of Tsunade emerging from a nearby room.

"Took you long enough," Tsunade mused. "I shouldn't have to remind you what Shizune told you."

Naruto nodded and asked, "Where's Boruto?"

"I'll go get him. He's in the waiting room right now." She was about to walk away when she recalled a specific comment she was going to make to Naruto on his wife's labor, and stopped briefly. "Your wife is actually a very scary woman, Naruto. The whole time she was giving birth, she was making some very creative threats against Kakashi for sending you away and against Shizune and myself for keeping you out of her room when you got back."

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle as Tsunade turned and left for the waiting room, but also felt a strange mixture of pride and solace at that statement. Of course Hinata knew he was supposed to be there with her. And of course she could be scary when she wanted to be. Even if it was only in spirit and not in body, Hinata Uzumaki was by far the strongest person he knew.

Breathing deeply, Naruto slowly opened the door. Half of the lights in the room were turned off, and the other half were dimmed. The curtain around Hinata's bed had been left open, though. Keeping Shizune's advisory at the front of his mind, Naruto quietly walked towards Hinata, who had her eyes closed as she held their new baby in her arms. Her face was still tinted red, her long midnight blue hair disheveled and caked in sweat…

And this was only the second time in her life she had looked this _beautiful._

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto whispered, leaning down slightly to caress her cheek. Hinata's eyes slowly opened and she turned her face towards him to give him a blinding smile.

"Naruto-kun…"

Naruto couldn't help but smile back at her. "You look like you just ran from here to Suna and back again twice," he joked. Hinata was too tired to laugh at his lame humor, so she tilted her head slightly. Then he turned his gaze towards her arms and asked, "So is this…?"

Hinata nodded and sat up in her bed. "Would you like to meet your daughter, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

Naruto gently reached down to take their newborn daughter into his arms and as he cradled her, he felt his eyes begin to water. The small creature in his arms opened her blue eyes and when she saw Naruto, she started giggling and trying to reach for him with her tiny arms. Naruto felt his heart begin to throb, having an intense feeling that was not dissimilar to how he felt being around Hinata.

"Does she have a name yet?" Naruto asked.

Hinata shook her head. "Well, since I chose Boruto's name, I feel you should get to choose her name, Naruto-kun."

Naruto gave his life a surprised look. "Really? You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?"

Naruto chuckled. _That's just like Hinata,_ he thought to himself. "Well, okay. Lemme think…" He looked back at the girl in his arms and closely studied her. The way she was giggling reminded him of flowers in the summertime. He could tell the tiny patch of dark blue hair on her head would turn out to be unruly like his own once she was his age, but he was certain it would be just as beautiful as her mother's hair. "Hmmm...I got it!" Naruto exclaimed and looked at Hinata with a sparkle in his eyes. "How does Himawari sound?"

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment, pondering the meaning of his name choice. "Our little sunflower…what made you think of that name, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled and blushed a little. "Well, I wanted to name her after you because your name means 'place in the sun', right?" he said, not scratching the back of his head as he was prone to do in similar situations because he was holding Himawari in his arms. "It's only natural I'd want to name her after you because you are my sun, Hinata. You, Boruto and Himawari are all my sun. Nothing will ever change that."

Hinata felt tears sting her eyes as she smiled brightly. "Naruto-kun…"

If Hinata wanted to say something more, she wasn't able to as the door suddenly burst open revealing Boruto who immediately jumped on the bed and hugged Hinata tightly. "Kā-chan!"

"Oof!" Hinata gasped and winced before returning the hug. "Easy there, Boruto. I'm fine," she told him.

"I didn't know what else to do, Kā-chan. You fell on the floor and you looked like you were in a lot of pain," Boruto explained. His speech was surprisingly advanced for his very young age.

Hinata giggled and gently pet his head. "You did well, Boruto. Now there's someone I want you to meet. Isn't that right, Naruto-kun?"

Boruto seemed to finally notice Naruto was there and he gave his father an annoyed glare. "Tō-chan was having dirty thoughts about Kā-chan again, wasn't he?" he accused. Naruto's head immediately fell.

"That's the first thing you say to me in this situation?" Naruto muttered.

"Boruto, it's okay. Your father won't do anything to me here," she said even though she couldn't help but smile at her two year old son's protectiveness.

Boruto took her word for it and sat on the bed next to her. "OK, if Kā-chan says so." Though he gave Naruto a smug look as he cuddled up to Hinata.

"Cheeky brat," Naruto mumbled.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata chided her husband.

"Oh, right. Anyway, Boruto…" Naruto's voice trailed off as he leaned over the bed and placed Himawari into Boruto's arms. "Careful now," he told his son.

Once Himawari was secured in his arms, Boruto looked down at her. Both the two year old boy and his new little sister were curious about the other. Boruto innocently lowered his head closer to Himawari while she reached for his face. She managed to grab some of his hair with her tiny hands and yanked on it. Boruto yelped and was about to yell until he heard Himawari's giggling resume, and couldn't help but smile at her.

"She sounds like Kā-chan," Boruto said. "But she already acts like Tō-chan," he added with a scowl directed at Naruto.

Hinata smiled and pulled Boruto close to her, and took Himawari back into her arms. "Her name is Himawari, and it's your job as her big brother to protect her. Isn't that right, Boruto?" she asked.

Boruto nodded. "Hmmmm…I'm just gonna call her Hima," he said as he took one of Himawari's little hands in his.

Naruto laughed. "Already giving her a pet name, huh? I think he likes her a lot."

Boruto just gave his father another glare. "Tō-chan is weird."

Naruto sighed shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, sure. Tō-san is weird," he said as he ruffled Boruto's hair. Boruto blushed slightly from his father's show of affection and looked away, mumbling something about how 'Tō-chan being weird is okay'.

The family talked and laughed with each other for nearly an hour before both Boruto and Himawari began showing signs of fatigue. Soon after that, Boruto was fast asleep on Hinata's lap and Himawari was snuggled in Naruto's arms. The room was silent as Naruto sat on a chair next to the bed while Hinata contented herself by gently petting Boruto's sleeping figure.

"I'm really lucky, y'know?" Naruto suddenly blurted out.

Hinata turned her head towards him and asked, "Why do you say that, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed before explaining, "Well, I always believed I was gonna be Hokage one day and make everyone recognize me. That was my dream, and back when we were kids it was all I ever thought about. But after we became ninja and I started finally making friends, and later when the village began calling me a hero, I wondered if that was what it was supposed to be like. The villagers' admiration wasn't filling the hole in my heart. Something was still missing, but I didn't know what it was yet. I would still go home alone to an empty apartment every night I was in the village with nothing but my shadow clones to keep me company, and let me tell ya shadow clones don't make for very good company and its impossible to have a poker face with them."

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata's voice quickly trailed off as Naruto's former loneliness hit her just as hard as it had every time in the past. How could it not, when she was one of the few people in Konoha who could understand how strongly Naruto once felt that loneliness?

"But I don't have to worry about any of that anymore," Naruto went on. "You filled that hole in my heart in a way no one else ever could, Hinata. With you, Boruto and now Himawari, I never have to endure that feeling of loneliness again. Whether I'm away on a mission or here, and that's why…" Naruto suddenly stopped when he realized his voice was cracking and tears were beginning to slide down his cheek. He handed Himawari back to Hinata and quickly used his sleeve to wipe his tears away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Hinata, who was also left with teary eyes by Naruto, reached over with her free arm to hold his hands. "When Iruka-sensei gave us that assignment asking us with whom we wanted to spend our last day on Earth, and I wrote down your name, do you know why I did that?" she asked.

"It wasn't because you loved me?" Naruto asked, visibly confused by the implication.

Hinata giggled. "Oh, I was definitely infatuated with you even back then, but that wasn't why."

"Oh really?" Naruto sighed and his head fell. "I guess I must have hurt your feelings a lot with the stuff I did and said about Sakura-chan back then, didn't I?"

Hinata sighed as well and nodded. "It…wasn't easy," she said, squeezing Naruto's hand tightly. This made Naruto feel all the more guilty for his foolish, ignorant behavior back then despite the comfort he found in holding her hand. "But all I ever wanted for you, Naruto-kun, was for you to be happy. That's why I wrote your name down. I thought that even if I could only provide you with just one day where you didn't have to be lonely, one day where you could have someone you could just talk to, that would be enough. I didn't have any hope that you might realize my feelings for you and I didn't really care as long as it meant I could help you."

Naruto realized then just how much Hinata had been willing to set aside her own personal feelings for him in order to help him get to where he was. Even to the point where she claimed would have been okay with him never realizing those feelings. And he was not okay with that at all.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as he abruptly stood and pulled his hand free from here.

"Don't ever say that again, Hinata," Naruto said. "Don't say you'd be okay with me never realizing your feelings. Because I wouldn't be. I told you there's no one else who could have filled the hole that was in my heart. It has to be you I spend the rest of my life with, Hinata. It could never be anyone else. No, I'm not exaggerating," he added after seeing the look on Hinata's face. "It's like I told Sakura-chan, if I can't be with the one person who believed in me from the start, the most precious person in the world who believed in me even when I couldn't believe in myself, then becoming Hokage would mean nothing. My whole life would mean nothing without you in it." He stopped resisting the need to cry as he knelt down and brought both Hinata and their kids into a loving embrace. "So don't ever say you would have been okay without me because I know I wouldn't be okay without you, Hinata. You, Boruto and Himawari; I won't be okay without any of you in my life."

Hinata could only cry as well as she hugged him back, "I really do love you, Naruto-kun," she whispered in his ear. "And I always will."

x-x

**A/N: Hello, everyone. So you might be asking yourselves why I went through the trouble to write a one shot that has nothing do with my current fic Separate Paths. Well, as some of you know I have also been working on the collaboration fic Healing the Sun with my beta reader, and one of the first "reviews" for the most recent chapter was a dissertation from a salty NaruSaku fan. Now back when NaruHina first became canon, yeah I was one of the ones who rubbed it in their faces because I knew from part one NaruHina was gonna be canon. (It would take more than this one shot to list the reasons why NaruSaku would never work; you'd need to write a damn novel to properly list and explain them all. But I addressed the most important reasons here in this one shot.) Of course, since those few fans are the type who don't wanna listen to reason, they will most likely blow those reasons off anyway. Not to mention I most likely am gonna get some real salty NaruSaku fans flaming this fic too but honestly I don't care. I hope my fellow NaruHina lovers enjoy the fic and remember why we are the true OTP. **


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